Prison guard union files claim against state over furloughs

Online: To view the claim, go to ccpoa.org/documents/furlough and click on “Writ of Mandate Filed.”

State corrections officers are having to work for free rather than take state-mandated furlough days because of understaffing and the dangerous nature of prison work, according to a claim filed against the state last week.

While the furloughs have created hardships for numerous state agencies, prison and union officials said the policy has left prisons in an especially tough spot.

Staffing prisons with fewer officers per shift would place workers at higher risk, while cutting certain services to inmates could violate court orders.

“Officer safety is paramount; we can't compromise the security and safety of the institution,” said Kenneth Walls, an officer at Donovan and a local union representative. “We have to be there, and that's something we as a staff understand.”

The California Corrections Peace Officers Association filed the claim March 16 on behalf of its 30,000 members.

It states that hundreds of officers have asked and been denied to take their furlough days since Feb. 1. Instead, they've had to work two shifts unpaid each month, resulting in a 9 percent cut in their monthly pay.

“When someone works, they are supposed to get paid,” said Ryan Sherman, a spokesman for the officers union. “State and federal law are very clear about that.”

The union is seeking an undetermined amount in monetary relief, such as unpaid wages and possibly damages.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's executive order requires nearly all state employees to take one to two unpaid days off each month in the face of a massive budget crisis. The furloughs are estimated to save the state $1.3 billion through June 2010.

California Highway Patrol officers have been exempt from the program.

The state has 45 days to respond to the claim. A claim is often the first step before a lawsuit is filed.

“Challenges to the furlough to date have been unsuccessful,” said personnel department spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley.

The union sued the state on similar grounds in December, but the case was dismissed a month later when a judge ruled that the union couldn't prove that officers would be financially harmed by the furloughs, which had yet to take effect.

Now that officers have received reduced paychecks, the union says it has proof that the employees are being harmed by the policy.

Stout, at Donovan, said that while officers aren't being paid for furlough days, they are able to use those hours to take regularly scheduled vacations and holidays. That allows the officers to then bank their usual vacation and holiday leave, which can be cashed out upon retirement.

“There is ample opportunity for officers to take holiday time off,” Stout said.

Gregg Adam, an attorney representing the union, said future time off is not adequate compensation.